Climate-Smart Forests

As a response to global climate change, which is putting increased pressure on most ecosystems, national and international agreements aim at creating forests that are productive, resilient to climate change, and that store carbon to mitigate global warming. However, these aims are being challenged by increased tree mortality rates and decreased tree growth rates in response to increased incidence of drought. The summer drought of 2018 alone resulted in 100 million m3 of dead trees in Europe, equivalent to a loss of approximately 3.5 billion euros wood. Therefore, the challenge is to develop climate-smart forestry (CSF) in order to sustain or increase forest productivity, forest resilience and forest carbon storage under climate change. Currently, there is a lack of crucial insights into the effects of forest management on the growth and survival of trees, and on carbon storage in both trees and forest soils, particularly under increased incidence of drought. We test the hypothesis that CSF aims can be achieved via controlling stand density by applying intermediate levels of tree harvest intensity. The main aim of this proposed project is to quantify the effects of drought and management-controlled stand density on forest productivity, forest resilience, and carbon storage in trees and soils.